Wonderland Station Parking & Busway

Changing Parking Lots To Parks Without Losing Spaces
Stimulating economic growth sometimes takes a discerning eye to see potential. In this case the Wonderland Station in Revere, MA has that potential. The city of Revere and developer Eurovest recognize the potential of this ocean view community and the existing convenience of buses and trains. The Wonderland Station is the center of 8.8 acre Waterfront Square development uniting it with outlying areas and bringing with it access to homes, business, entertainment, parks and beaches.

The development will start by uniting transportation options into an intermodal facility that links cars, trains and buses. It will include 7 levels of parking consisting of 1,069 parking spaces. The new garage will offer safe and efficient parking as well as an improved transit station that is predicted to serve 30,000 trips daily.

Precast concrete expedites the building process by allowing the foundations to be put in while the precast elements were being cast. Blakeslee Prestress, Inc. of Branford CT has already cast the 1,100 precast concrete elements and the erection process has begun. This process is expected to proceed quickly and is scheduled to be completed by September 2011. Once the garage is ready the existing parking lots can be repurposed and commuters will not suffer from lack of available parking during the redevelopment of the ocean-side community.

The 8.8 acre development is going for LEED Silver certification. Precast concretes sustainable contributions to help achieve this goal included reducing the heat island effect, recycled content in the concrete mix, and local materials. Precast concrete also offers lower maintenance costs over the long life of the garage.

The parking garages extensive exposed roof area will support photo voltaic panels that serve a dual purpose of shading the top level of cars and provide a portion of the garages energy needs.

Wonderland Station and its parking are the heart of The Waterfront Square development that is planned to grow and include 902 residential units, 150,000 sq.ft. of office space, 28,000 sq.ft. of commercial space and a hotel. By taking advantage of the existing availability of transportation and making it the center of attention, changing parking lots to parks and beach access, it is a wonder it has taken so long for the potential to be recognized.